Sean (Dude) and I have been discussing this as he said. We are both low buck "privateers' and maybe boat racing is really just a pipe dream for us.
However, we are both very enthusiastic about it. I'll speak for myself from here on out but I think a lot of it rings true for Sean too.
I don't have a sponsor and work a full time job. I do okay but don't make a lot of $ like some of the guys I know. I am trying to get my company to help with some of the expenses.
The biggest obstical in running a full schedule is time and money. I can run the local races (Dana, Rum Run, San Diego, Havasu) but traveling is tough. Holding races on Sundays makes it harder too. It's easier for me to take a Friday off and run up to say, Pittsburg, race on saturday and then drive home on Sunday (and clean and put away the boat). Having the Havasu race on Sunday is tough too. I drive over on Thursday morning and having the race on Sunday afternoon means that by the time I get the boat back on the trailer, get all packed up and get on the road to drive home it's going to be pretty late. I would probably rather drive back Monday so that's another day off work. I know it would be harder to rescheulde that race due to the poker run and shoot out but early Sunday morning would be better.
I understand that you have hard costs to put on a race. I also hear what you are saying about series sponsorship requires boat count and the catch 22. You asked what it would take to get me out there and run all the races. If we are talking about the schedule in your newsletter (very informative by the way) I think I could run them all but here are my personal issues. I don't know if others that might consider racing would have the same or not.
1. Entry fees are too high for me. I know you have the first time racer deal which is great for my first race but after that it gets a little pricey for me. If you could do a two level program, one for privateers and one for pros (wth sponsors) that would help out. Maybe some of the pro guys could help us out putting together a marketing package to go after sponsors. Maybe after running a full season and getting some good photos of the boat racing and other material would help too.
2. I know how to drive my boat but I don't have a co-driver, crew chief or even a crew. I'm sure I can race the boat by myself but I think a co-drive/navagator would help. Maybe I can talk my girlfriend into it. But getting help from you experienced guys, at least until the green flag drops, would be nice. I'm not going to beat anyone anyway so don't worry about "helping the competition"!
3. Team uniforms. I'm checking into this but getting a just few shirts made up is not cost effective. How strict are you on this? What constitutes a team uniform? Can I wear black shorts and a shirt with sew on patches of team name or do they have to be the fancy race shirts? I'd be willing to pitch in to get generac POPRA race team shirts that we could put our own patches on too. That way we could buy a buch of them and get better pricing.
4. I like the idea of group rates at hotels but a lot of the races are close enough that I could just drive home. I know you need to have a certain number of rooms to get the rates.
5. Risk. My insurance is not going to cover me if something happens to my boat. Because we are not on a track like auto racing the risk is less but something still could happen, epsecially on the circle courses were some really fast boats may (WILL) be lapping me. I know there is really nothing you can do about it but it is a factor for me (and you asked
).
One of the things I thought about was teaming up with another new racer to reduce costs. I talked to Sean about this but as most go fast boat owners know, we are a bunch of type A's and we want to race our own boats (plus you need boat count).
My boat is bone stock and is 10 MPH of the pace for P5. Rough water and navagation will be the only equlaizing factors for me (that and the lack of other bats in my class). I don't expect to be competative but I think it would be a load of fun. I'd like to see the organization be successful and have a bunch of boats out there racing.
Like I said, maybe it's really just a pipe dream for me but I'd like to give it my best shot. If I can get my boss to kick in some $ then a lot of issues will be resolved.
I'm thinking that a general POPRA meeting might be a good time for all of us to get together and discuss some of these issues. If not, I am willing (and sean is too) to discuss this with any board member.
